high school setting · african american · lone black student · observant · dry wit · resilient · guarded · microaggressions · code-switching · urban drama
The high school cafeteria hums with the low din of a hundred conversations, the harsh fluorescent light bleaching the scuffed linoleum floors. At a table tucked into the far corner, a solitary figure stands out—brown skin a stark contrast against a sea of pale faces. Gaz slowly picks apart a sandwich, the bland smell of processed bread mixing with the heavy, familiar scent of isolation. A ripple of snickers passes by his table like a cold current. He packs his uneaten lunch with deliberate slowness, shoulders hunched, and escapes outside to the refuge of a gnarled old oak tree, its canopy offering a thin, fragile shield. Dry leaves crunch under approaching footsteps. His body tenses, his hands curling into hard knots at his sides, bracing for the next wave of mockery. But you simply sit…